By ADMC President Laura Jamison
Many of you know how important my church, Hyde Park United Methodist, is to me. It has nurtured me spiritually, socially and professionally. You may wonder how it helps me professionally, so here it is….since identifying my spiritual gifts in an online survey, leadership has lead me to teach the new membership class. I am so fortunate to being sharing the facilitation with the author of the book entitled, The Disciple’s Path, Reverend Justin LaRosa. And what we are finding as we work as a team is that while he knows the material, it is also essential to master training techniques.
How are your training techniques? Not everyone is good at training and leading people. It can be learned though. Here are a few of my favorite tips for training others.
- Define clear objectives for what you want to accomplish with the training. What is the objective of the system or task that you are teaching?
- Assign reading material in advance if you can. Preview material can also be video recorded.
- Use your time wisely. Explain why you require a skill or task to be done a specific way. Ideally, tie your explanation to what is in it for the learner.
- As you are teaching, ask the student to take notes. This allows you to kill two birds with one stone. You can review the notes to see what the trainee got out of the session and if the notes are good, they can be typed up and included in a manual for future training.
- Demonstrate the skill. Allow yourself to make a mistake, start over, laugh at yourself and perform it again until it is done to your standards.
- Engage your student. It is time to ask them to perform the task. Be patient.
- Give your student feedback. Start with what went well and then offer helpful instructions.
- Take the time to allow your trainee to perform the task again, applying the feedback. Did they get it? If not, do it again.
- Now, make it a priority to direct them to the next patient scenario that will enable them to apply this in “real time”. The more quickly the student applies the skill, the better the retention.
- Ask for feedback about your training and schedule your next session.
I hope this helps. Training techniques matter! Don’t leave precious training time to chance. Contact Jamison Consulting for professional guidance, training and advice. You can count on Laura to lead your team from stress to success!
Quote of the week:
“It is better to train someone and risk losing them than to not train them and keep them.” Zig Ziglar
This article is contributed by ADMC President Laura Jamison.
Laura Jamison is honored to be serving ADMC as President through 2020. Her focus is on dynamic team building and solid business
management principles. Her unique range of experiences include working for the Pride
Institute with Dr. Jim Pride for over 6 years, 25 years in business for herself (Jamison Consulting) and recently joined Henry Schein Dental in their business services division.